India got off to a winning start in the ongoing AFC Asian Cup qualifers as Sunil Chhetri scored twice to hand his side a 2-0 win against Cambodia at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday. Despite the appealing scoreline, Chhetri and co. were slightly short from their best as the contest was more like a tale of missed opportunities, in footballing terms clear chances.
Igor Stimac, India’s head coach, who thanked the boys for the strength they showed on the pitch, also admitted the same, stating a “fair result would be minimum 4-0” at the post-match conference.
“We had at least four or five more good clear chances. So two more goals would serve really well,” he added.
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However, as per Stimac’s objectives, which were set prior to the match, things turned out more or less as planned and the coach is assured that “one-third of the job is done.”
“One-third of the job done, which is very important. I asked them two things today, clean sheet and goals. I would be happier if there were three or four, but two is goals also. So I’m very happy at the moment and confident about what’s coming up,” said the coach.
Also Read: Sunil Chhetri on the double as India beat Cambodia
Stimac also feels it’s time that the team should convert more chances and get accustomed to play without their talismanic captain Chhetri. He in fact picked guys who he expects should start getting more on the scoresheet.
“I expect goals from (Udanta, Manvir, Ashique, Sahal.) They all need to start scoring. You might wonder why I took Sunil and Brandon out, who were two of the most important boys today. One reason this is not only about one game, there are three games. Sunil also had a yellow card, result was comfortable, I didn’t see any danger out of Cambodia for us. And that’s why we tried as we need to start learning to play without Sunil as simple as that. They need to learn to play without him. And this was a good chance to give them a chance to play without him at least half an hour,” he said.
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